The course brought together 22 prosecutors and representatives of prosecution services training academies from 12 countries in Africa, the Arab region, Asia, Eastern Europe and Latin America, who actively participated in an in-depth discussion and knowledge sharing on international and regional standards on freedom of expression and access to information, and on how to effectively investigate and prosecute crimes and attacks against journalists.
During the opening ceremony of the training, Mr. Cheol-Kyu Hwang, President of the International Association of Prosecutors, hailed the cooperation between IAP, UNESCO and SII to enhance the capabilities of prosecutors by addressing the reality of impunity for crimes against journalists and to contribute to proper punishment of the crimes, corresponding to their severity. He also highlighted that the nature of crimes against journalists "necessitates higher expertise in performing prosecutors' duties such as investigation, indictment, and maintenance of prosecution till the end of trials" and that "cooperation between countries against transnational crimes is also an indispensable factor in determining the success or failure of relevant investigation and prosecution."
Building upon UNESCO's and the IAP's Guidelines for Prosecutors on Cases of Crimes Against Journalists, available in 18 languages, the training included sessions on the different threat typologies faced by journalists, on how to assess the sufficiency of evidence, on how to conduct an effective contextual analysis, and also covered issues related to criminal defamation, the protection of journalistic sources, victims and witnesses, and international cooperation in cases of crimes against media professionals.
The training course was delivered by high-level trainers who addressed these key topics, and included the intervention of guest speakers from governmental and non-governmental authorities, as well as from the media sector, who shared their experiences and fostered the exchange of good practices between the participants. Among those interventions were very relevant cases of complex investigations on murder of journalists, cases of unlawful digital surveillance of journalists and of journalists facing threats and legal harassment.
A number of prosecutors expressed their appreciation of the organization and content of the training, testifying on how exposure to the content of the course has made a significant difference in their perception of freedom of expression, access to information, and safety of journalists' issues.
For me it was so amazing because I always used to look at freedom to access information as an administrative role in government, but now with this training I can see how the legal enforcement comes in and how they need to rely on, and be aware of, the international instruments, the law code, domestic instruments, case studies, …. For me, as a legal professional, I now see how it is an administrative tool and also a legal tool to be used in court.
Mary Mwenje, Deputy Head of the Prosecution Training Institute (PTI) of Kenya
Honestly, this has been one of the most beautiful weeks in my career, because I learnt a lot. I never ever [focused] my mind to the issues related to freedom of expression or issues related to the violence against journalists, especially female journalists, until now.
Hajara Haruna Yusuf, Assistant Chief State Counsel of the Federal Ministry of Justice of Nigeria
Judge Samer Lichaa, Prosecutor from the Mount Lebanon District in Lebanon, appreciated the organization of the training and the concept of the Three-Part Test, testifying: "I just want to say that everything was perfect really, we had a lot of information, and the organization was perfect and we felt like with friends, it was very good. The topic of the three criteria […] was very helpful for my work."
This training for prosecutors was organized within the framework of UNESCO Judges' Initiative which, since 2013, has raised the capacities of over 23,000 judicial actors (judges, prosecutors and lawyers) on international and regional standards on freedom of expression, access to information and the safety of journalists in more than 150 countries, notably through a series of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), on-the-ground training and workshops, and the publications of a number of toolkits and guidelines.
The training for prosecutors was notably supported by the Multi-Donor Programme on Freedom of Expression and Safety of Journalists, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, and Open Society Foundations.
